Strangers on a Train
by Savannah-Rose
Summary: Two people meet on the train and slowly get to know each other and fall in love. This is my first fic so please give me feedback! Right now it will be rated K but it could end up T or M. Just a warning that in later chapters there will be coarse language because that's how Temari and Kankuro are.
1. Day 1

Every day it was the same routine. Take the Blue line to the end then transfer to the Green and finally get off three stops later. Every day it was the same people doing the same thing; mother's taking their children to daycare, businessmen on their way to work. They got off at the same stops never taking the time to speak to anyone.

A blonde woman sat alone a book in her hand. She wore a dark gray pant suit with a red silk shirt. Her shoulder length sand colored hair was pulled into a low ponytail and her face held a focused expression.

The train came to a stop and she finally broke her concentration from the book. It wasn't time to get off just yet. Before she had the chance to continue reading a sleeping figure caught her attention, she hadn't seen him on the train before. His head was down causing a spikey ponytail to point towards her. She attempted to hold back an amused chuckle.

The sound must have woken him because he looked up and caught her staring. The right side of his mouth curled into a smirk. His legs had had previously been stretched into the aisle were now pulled close to the bench. He scooted back in the seat, his arms still crossed over his olive green button-up. The woman smirked back towards him closing the book in her hands. They continued staring at each other for a few minutes before the train stopped again. She broke eye contact realizing this was her stop. She gathered her things quickly before giving the man a quick wink and getting off the train.

"Well isn't she something," he muttered under his breath. Maybe this new job would be worth all this time on the trains. He sighed and stretched out again putting his arms behind his head. _I wonder if she rides the train everyday,_ he thought remembering her smirk. He wasn't the type to initiate interactions, he was much more laid back than that. He wondered if she would be the one to speak first, and he kind of hoped that she would, if he had to it would be troublesome. The train lurched to a halt, jolting him from his thoughts. The man looked up, it was his stop. He would be on the train again tomorrow and he wished she would be too.


	2. Day 2

The woman sat in the same seat the next day like she always did. She looked around the train for the sleeping man from yesterday, only he was nowhere to be found. She let out a sigh before pulling out her book.

She had thought about him the entire evening prior. His dark brown eyes had captivated her. Once she had returned to her apartment her two younger brothers had noticed something different and pestered her with questions until she locked herself in her room. She was determined to see him again and this had distracted her at work and she'd hardly gotten anything done. While she was normally a confident person, she didn't know what she would say to him _if_ she did see him again.

The brakes on the train screeched as they came to a halt; people who were standing swaying with the movement. She checked a small golden watch for the time; they must have been about a quarter of the way through the Blue line. She looked up again and saw him board the train sitting across from her just like the day before.

This time it was his turn to give her a wink putting his hands behind his head. She restrained a smile and turned it into a smirk. She was firm in her plan of speaking to him first, so she calmed her mind before speaking, "I haven't seen you on the train before yesterday. Are you new to the area?"

"Yeah. I just got a new job around here," he answered her. He was slightly surprised, but pleased that she had been the one to initiate the beginnings of their conversation.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow "What do you do?"

"I'm an engineer," he shrugged. "What about you?"

"You must be pretty smart to be an engineer. I'm a lawyer."

"Well that's another job that requires you to be smart," he nodded in her direction. "I'm Shikamaru by the way."

"Temari."

The speaker came on overhead announcing that it was the end of the Blue Line. Both of them would be transferring to the Green. There was about five minutes in between the trains so they waited quietly on the platform. They knew little about each other but before one of them had the chance to speak the next train had arrived. The pair sat in the same spots as usual, directly across from each other and right next to the doors.

"So tell me about yourself," she wanted to know more about him but couldn't think of any other way to ask.

"How about I ask you a question and you answer it and get to ask me a question," he suggested. Temari nodded. "So how long have you been a lawyer?"

"About six years. What made you want to become an engineer?"

"My father was one too, so I guess it's a family thing. Do you have any family?"

"Just my two brothers. Do you have siblings?" the blonde adjusted her bag next to her as the train stopped for the first time. Two more stops and she would have to leave.

"I'm an only child. Are you guys close?"

"Well we share an apartment, so yeah. What about you and your parents?"

"We're pretty close. I try to see my mom as much as possible." He tried to think of a question she wouldn't expect. "What's your favorite animal?"

_Well that's different,_ Temari thought. "Weasels," she smiled. "What's yours?"

"My favorite animal? Probably deer." The train stopped again before he had the chance to ask the next question. One more stop and he would have to wait until tomorrow to see her again. "Favorite color?"

"Hmmmm... Probably purple or red. What do you like to do for fun?"

"I like watching the clouds, and playing chess. What about you?"

"What I do for fun? Hmmm." She paused. "Well I guess I like t-" she was cut off by the halting of the train. "I guess you'll have to find out tomorrow." She gave a quick wink before exiting the train.


	3. Day 2 Temari

Temari had her bag over one shoulder as she climbed the stairs that would lead her to the street. She smiled the entire walk back to her apartment. The blonde figured both of her brothers would be home so she tried to erase the glow of happiness around her.

She was right, both of them were there and they had noticed the glow. A red head sat at the small island in the kitchen a heart shaped tattoo on the left side of his forehead. He had been aimlessly stirring a cup of tea until his elder sister had come home. Meanwhile a larger brunet dressed in all black had been sitting on the couch flipping through channles on the TV. She avoided eye contact but gave them a greeting. "Gaara, Kankuro, how were your days?" she nodded to them.

"I got an interview at a new bar later tonight," Kankuro stated blandly. He was the only one of his siblings who wasn't employed at the moment.

"That's good to hear," Temari smiled at her younger brother. "Maybe now you'll get off the couch."

Gaara huffed out a laugh at his older brother. All Kankuro had been doing was watch TV while Temari was a successful lawyer and Gaara was one of he youngest CEOs of the era. Kankuro gave the other man a glare before turning his attention back to Temari and why she looked so uncharacteristically happy tonight. She had been like that the day before as well and he was suspicious that something was going on. " So Tem," he started. "Anything interesting happen at work today?"

"Not really. Just the same things as every other day. I've been working on a merger with the rest of my team and we've got a meeting with the other side in a few days."

"Riiiiight," he wasn't buying it. Gaara glanced over and immediately understood the situation. She was talking to someone and wasn't telling them. Even though Temari was the eldest of her siblings both of her brothers were very protective over her.

"Anyone new on your team?" Gaara asked hoping to get some information out of her.

"No. It's the same five people like always."

"Anyone new in the office?" Kankuro questioned further.

"No." She knew where this was headed and she didn't want them butting in on her private life. She barely knew Shikamaru anyway. They'd only talked once and now her brothers were prying. She went to the fridge to look for a take-out menu. She found one after about a minute of searching. She pulled one down and handed it to Gaara along with her phone. "How about you order us some food? I'm going to take a shower."

The ginger nodded and began dialing. Kankuro watched his sister walk down the hallway towards her room. Once he heard the door click he jumped from the couch and ran to his brother. "She has to be seeing someone. No way _Temari_ would look that happy unless she either killed someone in the courtroom or she's been seeing someone."

Gaara looked towards the other. "I think you're right. But I also think that she won't tell us anything if we just ask questions." He looked down at the phone in his hands. Kankuro's eyes went wide and he snatched the phone away and began snooping through it. The brothers had become so engrossed in looking through her phone trying to find some shred of evidence that she was seeing someone that they had failed to notice the shower had been turned off.

"Is the food here yet?" Temari asked walking back into the kitchen towel drying her hair.

They looked up and choked, setting her phone down hoping she hadn't noticed. Unfortunately for them, she had. "Did you go through my phone?!" She didn't care about the food now. Were her brothers that concerned about her private life that they went snooping through her phone?! Before she had the chance to yell at them further the bell rang. She grabbed her purse to get some cash for the take-out. She answered the door and gave the delivery boy the money in exchange for a large brown bag. She set it all down on the counter grabbed her order and walked back to her room. She wasn't going to be speaking to them for a while. At least not until they had apologized.

Gaara and Kankuro sat at the island to eat. "We'll just apologize in the morning when she's cooled down," Kankuro suggested.

"I think we should apologize now."

"Are you crazy?! I don't want to get a chair thrown at me today."

"Good point. Are we still going to try and figure out who he is?"

"Of course."


	4. Day 2 Shikamaru

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while my life got crazy and when it cooled down I had no motivation. . I'm back at school so things should become more regular... hopefully. **

Shikamaru had walked back to his apartment alone. He had moved to the city a few weeks prior and still wasn't quite settled in. He reached into his pocket and fiddled with his keys the last few meters to his building. He kept his key ready during the three floor walkup and slipped them easily into the lock. He opened the door to his dark apartment and let out a sigh before walking inside.

The tall man set the keys on the countertop and loosened his tie. Four boxes sat in the hallway still sealed with packing tape. He hadn't finished unpacking because it was extra work and he wasn't about to put effort into unpacking after getting off work. _I'll do it on a weekend_, he thought.

He pulled a TV dinner out of the freezer, put it in the microwave and pressed a few buttons. After it started to cook he started his computer. The desktop had just finished loading when the microwave beeped off. Shikamaru sat down to eat his dinner with his laptop. He had four new emails. Two were from his mother worrying about him; one was from his best friend Choji just wanting to see how the city was and to talk. The last one was from another childhood friend, Ino. She was telling him that he needed to go out and have fun, meet new people. Shikamaru wasn't going to tell her yet, but he might have met someone worth meeting. He let out a yawn. It was still early but he always seemed tired. Ino and his mother would call him lazy. He answered their emails, letting his mother know that everything was going to be fine, promising Ino he wouldn't just sit in his apartment. He talked to Choji about food and how nothing here compared to the barbeque place back home.

After watching a little TV Shikamaru ended up towards the back of his small apartment. He undressed in silence before turning the shower on. He let his dark hair down from its ponytail and it fell around his shoulders. He moved quickly in the shower sleep tugging at his eyes. The long day was finally over. He lay in his bed, hands tucked behind his head. When he closed his eyes he saw her, golden hair and bright teal eyes smirking at him with a look like she knew more than he did. He half-smiled, eyes still closed and sleep overcame him.


End file.
